Hawks demolish McDonald County, drop two games at Battle of the Ridge
After a easy takedown of the McDonald County Mustangs in the first round of the Battle of the Ridge, the Hawks absorbed a heartbreaking last second loss to the state’s fourth-ranked 4A team, Arkadelphia. The Hawks then dropped the third place game to Little Rock Robinson.
Always one of the toughest fields in the state for an invitational 4A school tournament, the Hawks came up a bit short in this fifth edition of the annual hoopsfest.
Game run downs:
Pea Ridge 65, McDonald County 36
A tight game in the first quarter turned into rout in the second quarter as the Hawks won their first round game soundly for the fifth year in a row.
Senior Wes Wales scored three times inside with seniors Noah Peterson and Brandon Whatley ripping 3 pointers and junior Graydon Edwards hitting a bucket to lead the Mustangs 14-11 at the first buzzer.
The second period saw Wales keep up the pressure on the visitors, scoring three goals inside then hitting one from downtown to spark an 18-3 surge to head into intermission leading by a wide margin, 32-14. Peterson hit a trey and two field goals to add to the surge with Whatley adding a goal himself.
McDonald County more than doubled their score in the third with 15 points, but it was for naught as Pea Ridge exploded for 21 led by a four trey-shot performance by Peterson. Peterson also hit three free shots for 15 points in the period. Wales added two more baskets with sophomore Logan Stewart also dropping in one as Pea Ridge led 53-29 headed into the last quarter.
Stewart struck for two goals in the final period with seniors Hunter Rains and Mazon Harris, sophomore Joe Adams and junior Cooper Tillman adding scores to close out the victory.
Peterson led the scoring with 25 with Wales high in double figures with 19. Stewart had 6, Whatley 5, Rains 2, Edwards 2, Adams 2, Harris 2 and Tillman 2.
Arkadelphia 50, Pea Ridge 49
In a game of runs, a minirun by the visitors in the last 5 seconds was enough to turn back an upset victory and hand the Blackhawks a 50-49 set back.
The Badgers big 6’6” senior center Sam Smith scored a rebound shot then went outside for a 3-pointer to give the Badgers an early 5-0 lead. Peterson countered with a trey of his own but a Badger and another Smith trey shot Arkadelphia ahead 10-3 midway in the first quarter.
Wales and Smith scored inside for their respective teams to keep the Badgers ahead by 7. Wales and Edwards sandwiched layups around a Badger 3-pointer. Senior Mazon Harris matched an Arkadelphia layup but the Hawks Jared Brewer brought the locals to their feet by drilling a 3-pointer with one second left to cut the lead to just 3 at 17-14 heading into the
second period.
Peterson hit a trey early and Harris a tip-in early in the quarter but the Badgers’ Smith scored three times inside to enlarge the lead to 23-19. Senior Hunter Rains hit a layup but the Badgers ripped a trey to get further ahead. Peterson got hot, dropping in a pair of treys with Brewer hitting a layup to sweep the Hawks past the guests to take a 29-26 lead with 2 minutes left in the half. The Badgers regrouped, scoring a short jumper and a trey in the last minute to go into the break leading 31-29.
Wales posted the first score of the second half, tying the score at 31-31 with a score underneath. Smith got back into, scoring undwrneath then moving outside for a 3 pointer to regain a 5-point lead for his team. Whatley then scored underneath for Pea Ridge but it was answered with two free throws, a trey, and a jump shot to put the visitors in front 43-33 with 7:30 left in the game.
Peterson hit a layup with 4:55 left to shrink the lead a little then a scoring onslaught by Wales and Peterson erased the deficit to take the lead with 15 seconds left. Wales hit a trey with Peterson then adding a layup and two free throws to cut the lead to 43-42. A Badger layup got the guests back ahead by 3, but a Wales trey, dunk, and two free tosses put the Hawks ahead 49-47 with 15 seconds to go.
With the clock down to 3 seconds, the Hawks were whistled for a foul, sending a Badger to the line for two shots. The first shot was made but the second bounced off to the left with the Hawks seeming to gain control of it. The ball was knocked loose with the Hawks being assessed a foul on the ensuing scramble for the ball. Big Sam Smith, the Badgers’ leading scorer, was sent to the line with 1 second left and the senior center cooly dropped through both attempts to win the game.
The Hawks had one more pre-conference tuneup game as they were slated to invade Huntsville for a nonconference battle Tuesday. That will set the stage for the conference opener with Gentry Friday at home. The Pioneers have not lost this season and are currently holding the No. 7 ranking in the 4A state polls.